Using Hendrix

Starting Hendrix with Python

Launching your application from within your Python codebase, whether in your local development debugger or in the orchestration logic for your production fleet, can be an empowering and eye-opening experience.

Pythonic launch logic is an area where hendrix shines:

from hendrix.deploy.base import HendrixDeploy

deployer = HendrixDeploy(options={'wsgi': wsgi_application_object})
deployer.run()

Now you have a logical place to put a breakpoint, emit a log entry, or attach other services that you might want to deploy.

The 'hx' command

Development Server

The simplest way to start hendrix for a Django project is to run the following command from the root of the project (ie, where manage.py is or was):

$ hx start --dev

This is roughly the equivalent of running the django devserver.

The '--dev' option simply causes hendrix to emit output and elicit behavior similar to the Django runserver:

• '--reload' is implied: changes to the code will trigger reload
• '--loud' is implied: stdout and stderr will emit directly
• '--daemonize' is disabled: the process will run in foreground of the current TTY.

Normal Usage

The following outlines how to use Hendrix in your day to day life/development.

For help and a complete list of the options:

$ hx -h

or

$ hx --help

Starting a server with 4 processes (1 parent and 3 child processes):

$ hx start -w 3

Restarting a server:

$ hx restart

Stopping that server:

$ hx stop

Note that stopping a server is dependent on the settings file and http_port used.

E.g. Running a server on port 8000 with local_settings.py would yield 8000_local_settings.pid which would be used to kill the server. I.e. if you start with hx start --settings local_settings then stop by hx stop --settings local_settings

Install hendrix As a "service" (Ubuntu/Debian)

To install hendrix as a system service, you'll need to create hendrix.conf.

hendrix.conf is is YAML format. Here's an example.

# path to virtualenv
virtualenv: /home/anthony/venvs/hendrix

#path to manage.py
project_path: /home/anthony/django/myproject

#### everything below is optional #####
# settings, if you use different ones for production
settings: 'dot.path.to.settings'

# default 1
processes: 1

# default 8000
http_port: 8000

# default false
cache: false

# default 8080
cache_port: 8888

# default 4430
https_port: 4430

# key and cacert are both required if you want to run ssl
key: /path/to/my/priv.key

Then, run the included installation script.

$ sudo install-hendrix-service /path/to/hendrix.conf

To start the service:

$ sudo service hendrix start|stop

You may want to use something like supervisor, systemd, or upstart to launch hendrix on your remote metal.

Hendrix ships with an upstart template for this purpose; it can easily be modified to work with other similar services.